Kwakzalver aan het werk

A quack stands behind a counter with various attributes. He holds a small dish in his hand and blows on it. A woman and two men watch with open mouths. A young man raises his finger warningly. The original meaning of the representation is the proverb 'better hard blown than the mouth burned' (better to make a lot of fuss to prevent accidents than to suffer damage). The texts in the Emblemata Saecularia refer more to the proverb 'much shouting and little wool'. The boasting quack speaks the words: Hoch prang ich her und ruhme sehr/ Mein grosse Kunst/ Reichtum und Lehr/ Ja gross Geschrey und wenig Woll/ Bey mir ist/ wenn mans glauben soll. Those who believe his words come out cheated and are thereby characterized as gullible fools. No. 25 from the first edition of 1596, no. 46 in the expanded edition of 1611.